BATTLEBLOG - Proofing:A Love Hate Relationship - 19 May 2009

[DeJaVu]

When I use the term "proofing" I'm referring to a book that has finished development, gone through editing and has entered a first layout draft. Often this is done in stages, where a given section is finished going through a first layout pass and a PDF of that section is generated and turned over while the graphic designer moves on to the next section. I then proof that section, along with a cadre of people, from the authors of the given product, as well as specific people that have proven in the past to be particularly good at tweezing out final errors.

In just the last few days I've seen proofing sections for (in no particular order and in hugely divergent states of progress):

25 Years of Art & Fiction
Master & Minions
Eclipse Phase (core rulebook)
Seattle 2072
HexPack: Lakes & Rivers
HexPack: Cities & Roads
Henchman
Vice
A Time of War
Balance of Power
Merchants
Paparazzi

Even for us that's a pretty huge list, so it's been interesting trying to keep everything rolling as smooth as possible.


Now proofing, for me, is such a love hate relationship. To see the book you've been slaving away on for who knows how long finally reach nominal "hey, it looks like a book!" form is fantastic. It's a huge milestone and really helps to inject some excitement back into the process. Cause let's face it...for the big rule books, by the time you get to the end you absolutely hate the book, cause it won't die. Doesn't mean you're not really proud of the product you've put together, or once it's printed and on the shelf and the community is grabbing it that you won't come back around to liking it. But usually by proofing stage you've been working on it for a huge amount of time and the deadline is looming larger than a Banshee toping a rise a hundred meters ahead and your head's about to explode...

So...you've got the good side. You get to see the product. It almost looks like a book! You might soon be done! It's also fun when I'm not closely involved in a product at every stage to see the final state of things. For example, A Time of War has really been all of Herb's baby. I helped iron out the outline and such ages ago, but this is the first time I'm really seeing some sections. So when I see that he's injected some "flavor" sentences in front of every Trait in that section I just got from layout, I was loving the subtle way of folding in the universe at every step, while making you laugh out loud sometimes along the way.

For example, under the Compulsion Trait you've got the following line: "What do you want to hear, man? I told you, I can't help myself! It's a sickness!" Or under the Equipped Trait you've got the following line: "Yes, this is a Mauser 1200 Light Support system with an NVR-50 telescope and IR laser sighting. And no, you can't touch it!" That's a developer/writer having fun along the way and ensuring the players are having fun and being immersed into the setting.

Course on the opposite side is the curse. The hate. Despite the huge amount of hours of work and fact checking and playtesting, you find a huge list of errors in proofing. Often problems that leap right off the page at you the second you see it in proofing, despite having re-read that EXACT section a half dozen times in a text format. It can be very aggravating...not to mention it also dawns on you that despite the book hitting proofing, there's still far, far too much to do to get the book done and finally out the door...and that pesky deadline's starting to light up it's PPC...

But despite all these years, holding finished book in my grubby paws? Still worth it every time.

See ya next time!

Randall

[DeJaVu]

Рэндал, так это без палева, сливает готовящиеся релизы))) Ну-ну, посмотрим.

[Hobbit]

Где мои "Левиафаны", Биллс?
Где мой ТП: Сиань!?
ГДЕ МОЙ ХЭНБУК:МПС!?!?!?

[KolbunD]

Hobbit

Где мои "Левиафаны", Биллс?
Где мой ТП: Сиань!?
ГДЕ МОЙ ХЭНБУК:МПС!?!?!?

они кинули Hobbit-а - сволочи !!!
ну если без юмора то немного удивила подборка готовящегося

[DeJaVu]

ну если без юмора то немного удивила подборка готовящегося

Ну дык правильно, каталисты на зацикливаются только лишь на БТ, а активно развиваются, и позиционируют себя как команды разработчиков настольных игр. Отсюда, и количество проектов...